I'm spending quite a bit of time in Brussels these days and have a question for those more knowledgeable than I. The fritteries all have a wide array of sauces to accompany their tasty golden fries, but I am at a loss trying to decipher what the differences are between the sauces (andalouse, americaine, samurai, pili pili, tartare, etc.) . There are so many of them, and as I can't be eating frites every day, I would like to know what they each contain so I can make the best choice when I indulge in some golden goodness. Most of the descriptions I've seen for the various sauces are limited to "spicy" or "not spicy," but I'd like to know a bit more about the nuances and specific ingredients. Any belgians or fritephiles out there who can enlighten me? Also, any particular recommendation you may have would be most welcome! merci!

I know David-- it is a pretty sweet dilemma to have! If I have too many though i get into food coma pretty quickly, so I have to pace myself!

I report that today I tried the sauce andalouse-- it was tomato-pepper-aioli and one of the few sauces that I'd found a good description for online. It was ok (much better than ketchup!), but I need something with more kick- next time I will try either the Samurai or the Pili Pili, both of which I've seen described as hot, though i don't really know the difference between them.

KYH, thanks for the wiki list. I've actually spent an inordinate amount of time poking around the internet investigating these belgian frites sauces but have unfortunately not turned up a good "sauce glossary."

From McSweeny's here is a partial list of some of the sauce options:Peppersaus, Provençal, Curry, Americain, Andalouse, Pickels, Samourai, Tartaar, Stoofvleessaus, Looksaus, Mammoetsaus, Gele Bickysaus. Perhaps I'll mosey on over to my local fritterie and jot down the full list.

I am a true Belgian girl and I know how to eat my fries. All these sauces in the friteries are rubbish. Believe me. The only acceptable sauces are mayonaise and tartare. The rest is additives and colorants.

Evelien is quite right when she says mayonnaise & tartaar-sauce are the most proper choices, especially when the friterie has homemade tartaar-sauce at hand. Nonetheless, as a true belgian I feel myself obliged to describe the whole range a bit more in detail.

A lot of belgians ask for sate-spices on their fries as well, which is mainly a mixture of dried peppers.

A little off-topic, but fries usually don't get ordered without a snack to go with. The most classic are mussels either in vinegar or in tartare-sauce, pickled hareng & boiled eggs. Nowadays they don't get ordered so often anymore though. The most popular snack is the curry-worst (= curry-sausage), which is basically chicken separator-meat with wheat and spices. Then there's the meatballs. And last but not least; the cervela, which is basically a sausage with a strong garlic-taste. They sell many other snacks, but only these are really worthwhile, when indulging in our world-famous 'fast food'-tradition.